Ten Things We Do
by OddPotato
Summary: (When We Fancy Someone). In which Remus Lupin comes up with reason after ridiculous reason to spend time with James Potter's sister and Moira Potter finds herself simultaneously falling for her brother's best friend and off a tree. A collection of one-shots.
1. Number One

Ten Things We Do (When We Fancy Someone)

1\. You smile when you see him.

To say that Moira Potter was angry was an understatement. Her head felt like a hundred tiny daggers were stabbing it, her eyelids were drooping as she had only gotten three hours' worth of sleep - she had to scrape the potion she'd blown up off the floor in detention and finish four feet of parchment on the dangers of human transfiguration – and on top of all that, Sirius sodding Black accidentally destroyed – no demolished - the Charms notes she had painstakingly taken.

So there she sat at the Great Hall, face as gloomy as the weather outside with a few strands of hair that escaped her ponytail (yet another reason to be angry; why in Merlin's name did she have to inherit the infamous Potter hair?) enjoying an early morning dip in a steaming bowl of oatmeal and bits of berries. She spooned the mush into her mouth slowly; shoulders slumped and head resting on her left hand. She was definitely not looking forward to surviving the rest of the day. In fact, she was already thinking fondly of her soft, comfortable bed even though she'd just stumbled out of it and entertained herself by counting down the hours to when she could proclaim her love to her favourite inanimate object for hopefully twelve hours straight.

She felt a hand tap her lightly on her shoulder and groaned as her eyelids shut in exasperation. "Leave me alone, James," she said to her twin, the corners of her lips forming a scowl as he ruffled her jet black hair playfully, a low chuckle rumbling out of his throat from somewhere above her head. Her eyes snapped open.

"A very good morning to you too, little sister," he replied cheerily, plopping himself on the bench rather carelessly with a thump while his dark haired friend threw his leg over the bench in a fluid motion, a smirk gracing his sharp features.

"Five minutes, James," Moira said briskly and spooned a blueberry into her mouth. "You're older by five minutes. That's hardly anything to be proud of."

"Younger by three hundred seconds, yet you're acting like you've just hit your sixtieth birthday," Sirius Black quipped as he piled bacon on his toast and recoiled slightly when he met Moira's glare. James let out yet another chuckle as he spread butter onto his toast.

"You've got the brains of a five year old, Sirius," she snapped, reaching over the table to prod Sirius's shoulder. "How in the world did you manage to cut up in notes, huh?"

Colour seemed to drain from his face and he lifted up his toast and bacon combination in an attempt to hide his face with his breakfast. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't see it, honestly."

"Why were you doing it anyway, cutting up paper?" James asked before taking a humongous bite out of his toast.

"I'll tell you what he was doing!" Moira suddenly exclaimed, her head snapping to face her brother. "He was cutting up paper to make tiny little crows-"

"-sparrows-" Sirius corrected meekly.

"-And charmed them to fly around in circles above Lily's head-"

"Oh, you did the thing I asked you to?" James beamed. "I asked for heart shapes, though, but thanks anyway, mate!"

Moira stopped mid rant, gaping at her brother.

"I know." Sirius let out a sigh and smiled fondly. "It was a brilliant piece of magic."

Her head slowly turned to Sirius, then to James, and back to Sirius. They both suddenly paused, as if they just remembered that she was there.

"It was Sirius's fault," the words rushed out of James's mouth. He turned away, avoiding the glare Sirius sent his way.

Sirius gave Moira an insincere grin. "Sorry," he whispered loudly and proceeded to stuff his entire portion of breakfast into his mouth.

"Unbelievable. Incorrigible," Moira sputtered and then exclaimed rather dramatically, "I'll never forgive you two, I'll never be happy ever agai-"

The doors of the Great Halls opened with a loud creak and her head whipped to face the source of the sound. Her gaze fell on a boy with light, almost golden, brown hair, his forest green eyes scanning the room for his friends. His gaze fell on Moira, Sirius and James and he ambled over to them.

"Morning," Remus greeted them and cracked a small grin at Moira. "Hello, Moira."

"Hey, Rem," she replied casually, unconsciously sitting up straighter. The strands of hair previously in the bowl slipped out, dripping clumps of oatmeal on her uniform. She quickly but inconspicuously brushed them out of sight.

"I'm just here to grab some food, and then I've got to run off to Arithmancy," he said and gave a little shudder. "Arithmancy's fascinating but in the morning, ugh."

"Don't know why you even chose that, Moony," James stretched his arms over his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's such a bore."

"Prongs, you seem to be forgetting that we're talking about smarty pants Moony here," Sirius rolled his eyes and James gave a little shrug, as if to say '_oh, yeah'_.

"Hey, I happen to find Arithmancy interesting too." Moira gave them a mock glare. Her features softened into a sheepish half smile as she looked at Remus, who tossed an apple into his bag, "But sorry, only Ancient Runes for me."

He returned the smile and they stared at each other, basking in the comfortable but uncharacteristic silence that was nearly never present in a place where even half of the Marauders were present.

"Oh, yeah, before I forget," Remus broke the silence, his eye brows furrowed in concentration as he rummaged through his sling bag. He fished out some parchment after a few moments and handed them over to Moira.

Her eyes widened. "What's this?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"I heard _someone_ cut up your Charms notes," he added emphasis to the word 'someone' and continued hesitantly. "It isn't much but I figured that a copy of my notes would be better than not having notes at all."

Moira's heart melted and her eyes crinkled as the corner of her lips turned upwards. "Thank you so much, Rem, I owe you one."

"No problem," he responded, slowly letting his gaze fall on his watch. "Merlin, I'm late, sorry, gotta rush off." He looked around helplessly with a panicked expression on his face. "I'll see you all in Defense!"

"Yeah," Sirius and James answered in unison and Moira waved her hand at him. She watched as Remus darted out of the Great Hall, heard him groan in annoyance ("Peter, where are you?") and clutched her new Charms notes to her chest. She turned back to her bowl of oatmeal and joyfully dumped more berries into them as her mouth quirked into a full blown goofy, toothy grin. She looked up with a spoonful of fruit and oatmeal in her mouth looking at her brother and his best friend who were still uncharacteristically quiet.

"Wha-?" she asked, opening her mouth to reveal a disgusting looking, slightly tinted pink and blue mush.

James and Sirius shared an amused look before focusing their attention back to her.

"Oh, angst, angst," James moaned dramatically, his voice a few pitches higher than normal, placing a hand on his head as if swooning. "I'll never be happy ever again, ever!"

"I wonder what's gotten her to show so many teeth now, huh, Prongs?" Sirius nudged James playfully, sending a wink towards Moira's way. "Why're you so smile-y, Moir-ey?"

"I'll hex you," she teased, looking at the parchment as if they were a new born puppy. Honestly, she thought, if the destruction of her notes always resulted in this situation, she would gladly hand over her notes to Sirius to make more paper sparrows even though it would also make her best friend and dorm mate give ten minute rants about that 'idiotic Sirius Black' and that 'arrogant toerag' who also happened to be her twin brother.


	2. Number Two

2\. You come up with excuses to spend time with her.

There was something extremely odd that was happening in the Gryffindor common room right at that moment even though it was practically deserted. About ten students were scattered around the spacious room. Some had their noses buried in a book while a group was having a heated conversation about Celestina Warbeck's latest hit. The room seemed relatively quiet and peaceful, a norm as it was a free period for some of the seventh years. So, what was the strange thing out of place?

It was not the girl with the fire-like hair muttering unheard words under her breath; as usual, Lily Evans was practicing spells the seventh years had all learnt that day. Not far away from her, at an optimal distance from the fireplace to keep themselves toasty and comfortably warm, three young men were seated in plushy armchairs facing one another. Two of these young men, one with messy black hair resembling a bird's nest and the other with his long-ish hair combed back, flicked Bertie Bott's every flavor beans at each of their faces. Their slightly pudgy companion cheered on and kept their scores: three if it went into the mouth, four if it hit the eyes and negative one if it hit anywhere else.

However, it wasn't this little competition that was the curious occurrence in the common room that day. Neither was it Lily's habit of revising anything that she had learnt. No, no, not at all, these things were all normal enough.

A young lad with golden brown hair wearing a navy blue jumper slowly crept down the stairs. A grimace came on his face when a particular step made a creaking sound. He looked around warily, his gaze lingering a few seconds longer on the group of boys with every flavor beans and let out a low sigh of relief when he realized that he was not caught.

Remus Lupin was still safe from the attention of his fellow marauders. James, Sirius and Peter were still unaware that he was present and Remus meant to keep it that way. His housemate, a girl with pale yellow hair and a small nose watched with amusement as Remus tip toed across the room, toward the door he had to pass to reach his intended destination without being bombed with incessant queries from his best friends. He brought the two thick books he was carrying closer to his side as his heart pounded with excitement – he was so close to the door. His plan to escape the common room without notice was actually going to be a success!

About fifteen more steps away from his beacon of hope, he promptly knocked over a lamp as he walked into a table he forgot was there. The lamp swayed side to side dangerously and just as he was about to catch it, the lamp slipped right through his fingers and to the ground with a great clang. The gazes of all the occupants of the room immediately snapped to Remus. Remus let out a loud groan and covered his face with a calloused hand. His cussed in his mind and let his hand fall back to his side before turning to face his friends.

"Moony, you're here!" Sirius exclaimed and flashed a grin before turning to James. "I didn't notice him coming in."

James tilted his head to the side and let it rest on the tips of fingers of his right hand. With a quizzical expression, he said, "Yeah, neither did I. Hmm. Weird."

Used to the antics of the Marauders or uncaring of what was happening, the rest of the seventh years resumed their activities. Remus wished inwardly that his friends also lost interest but knew that it was definitely not happening anytime soon.

"Joining us, Moony?" James continued.

"Er…" Remus began.

Sirius interrupted him, "We've got your favourite." He wagged his eyebrows twice and gestured towards a nasty looking bean. "We all know you like the aftertaste of mud every once in a while."

"I'll… pass," a slightly disgusted Remus replied and scratched the back of his neck. "I have to go to the library to um, tutor someone." He raised his Transfiguration books as if to prove his point.

"You're doing it," Peter suddenly piped up, his eyes flickering from Remus to Sirius and then to James. "You're scratching your neck."

Remus immediately brought his hand away from his neck and gave a forced chuckle and a faked incredulous expression. "No, I'm not."

"Peter's right," James replied and Peter's chest puffed up a little with pride. "You always do that when you're nervous."

"Or when he's hiding something," Sirius nodded, now gleeful. He demanded, "Spill."

"I'm not hiding anything," Remus said in exasperation and quickly glanced at his watch from the corner of his eyes. He was going to be late if this went on any longer. "I'm just going to help a friend with Transfiguration."

"A friend, you say?" Sirius pursed his lips and nodded in a mocking manner. "Definitely a girl."

"Now that you mention it," the melodic feminine voice of Lily Evans became louder as she turned towards them. "Moira's missing."

"I wonder why that is," Sirius shared a sly grin with his best mate's girlfriend who – to James's delight – finally agreed to date James Potter about four months ago after years of epic fails and hexes.

"You're tutoring Moira in Transfiguration?" Peter asked, confusion settling upon his features. "But why?"

Remus let out again yet another curse in his head. Of all the things he could say, he chose to say that he was tutoring someone. And now that they all knew who he was meeting anyways, he couldn't deny it any longer. He was going to 'tutor' Moira Potter. Moira Potter, the girl who got an 'O' for Transfiguration. Remus berated himself inwardly, "Great, Remus. You've lost your brains. Terrific job."

"Sorry, slip of the tongue," Remus quickly backtracked and said the first thing that appeared in his mind, "She's tutoring me."

"Remus," James said, deadpanned. "You got an 'O' too."

That was it. Remus officially lost the title of the "Brainy Marauder". Irritated at his carelessness, he said curtly, "Well, we can always improve."

"So, Moira's tutoring you?" Peter piped in.

James, Sirius and Lily gave Peter a dubious stare. Remus joined in. Even though he was trying to cover up his slips, it was obvious to everyone that Remus was obviously lying. Still, to keep up appearances, Remus gave a quick nod.

"Oh, Peter," Lily shook her head with her eyes closed.

"Of course Moira's tutoring Remus, Pete," Sirius declared. "But in this case 'tutoring' means 'snogging'."

James, who has happily popping a lemon flavored bean in his mouth, choked. Lily quickly gave his back a hard thump.

"YOU'RE SNOGGING MY SISTER? MY BABY SISTER?" James wheezed out. "Why are you defiling her?"

"W-what?" Remus sputtered in panic. His cheeks turned red. "I- I'm not-"

"Oh, come off it James. Your sister's snogged blokes before," Lily rolled her eyes. "Haven't you noticed how she looks like?"

James gave an intent look, his brown eyes widened to resemble a puppy's. He said meekly, "Normal?" He turned to Sirius for confirmation.

Sirius gave a sheepish look and said, in a tone that matched his expression, "She's _quite _fit, mate."

James gave a look of horror. He whipped around, eyes set on Remus, "What are your intentions with my baby sister?"

Remus, his face now fully red with embarrassment and body prickling with nerves, was stumped. What in Merlin's muddy torn pants was he supposed to say to that? He swiftly looked around for help and his sight landed on Lily. Peter would certainly _not _help and Sirius would only add more fuel to the fire while cackling maniacally. Lily was his only hope.

"Lily, please," Remus pleaded. He rapidly glanced at his watch again.

Lily dramatically let out a huge huff, "Fine, but you owe me one Remus."

"What?" James voiced out.

"Gladly," Remus slumped with relief. "Thank you." He spun on his ankles, back now facing his friends.

"Don't leave! Moony, you haven't answered my-" James let out a loud "mmmphhh" as Lily jumped on him and began attacking his lips with hers. The last thing Remus heard before he slammed the portrait of The Fat Lady back into its place was the barking laughter of Sirius Black. He broke out into a full on sprint.

About ten minutes later, if anyone were to pass the Black Lake, they would see two students under the shade of a Beech tree. One was a girl with messy, jet black hair, and the other was a boy, in a worn navy blue jumper. They would see her face contorting with uncontrollable laughter and the corner of his eyes crinkling as he grinned from ear to ear. Two thick books were laid discarded and forgotten beside their figures. 


End file.
